East Central relies on defense

September 17, 2004

By Dave Wagner: Freedom Newspapers

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University and East Central Oklahoma turned in performances last weekend that both hope to build on when the teams meet in a 5 p.m. (MDT) Lone Star Conference crossover football game on Saturday at Ada, Okla.

The Tigers, who were just 3-8 in 2003, pulled even with fourth-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville 7-7 on a 24-yard touchdown run by junior King Bennett late in the third quarter before falling to the homestanding Javelinas 24-7.

Elliott expressed concern about the Greyhounds’ offense on Thursday, noting that senior quarterback Steven Hinson sat out the second half against Southwestern with a shoulder injury while junior guard Robert Acuna and senior backup fullback Sukora Cooper both went down with knee injuries.

Acuna is likely to miss four weeks, Elliott said, and will be replaced by junior Joe Lewis. Cooper sustained an ACL injury and has been lost for the season.

Hinson, meantime, is listed as probably for Saturday, but was having some problems with the shoulder in midweek.
“He’s made a lot of improvement, but he’s still not throwing the ball well,” Elliott said Thursday. “But I talked to him this morning and he’s feeling better.

“Right now he thinks he could take a hit. He’s been in the training room a lot, and we’ve still got about 48 hours.”

Hinson will not be used on returns this week. Elliott said if he can’t start at quarterback, the nod would go to redshirt freshman Michael Benton, who saw some second-half action against Southwestern.

First-year ECU coach Tim McCarty, whose defense has kept the Tigers (1-1) in both of their games so far, expects a stern test from the Hounds (1-2).

“They’re a very scary team,” McCarty said. “Offensively, they’re putting points on the board. They put 39 points on the board last weekend and they were scoring in all areas.”

The Tigers, though, have to be feeling pretty good after winning a low-scoring (13-6) matchup against West Texas A&M in their opener and then scaring Kingsville on the road.
McCarty, who has a mix of veteran and new players, said his team is still a work in progress.

“We slugged it out with (Kingsville), and they’re a talented team,” he said. “I’m proud our team never quit, but we’re not that level of team yet.”

After struggling with potent offenses in their first two games, the Hounds overwhelmed the Southwestern offense to get themselves back on track.